Given the frenetic pace of today’s world — the fierce competition for jobs, the 24/7 bombardment of ever-more-distressing news, the rapid onslaught of technological advances and the dilution of time-honored values such as patience, respect and courtesy — everyone needs a time and place to slow down.

Perhaps this is the reason that tea rooms are sprouting up like mushrooms all over the Delaware Valley.

According to Trish Stubbs, owner of Souderton’s charming Tilly Mint’s Tea Room, “I know that people love to leave their cares at the door and relax. I block out two hours for each table to relax. Many people, once they come here, give away gift certificates for my tea room.

“Simply put,” she continued, echoing the invocation on her delightful menu (more on that later), “it’s the perfect place to escape from our hectic daily lives.”

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Stubbs, whose beloved British mom gave her precocious daughter the nickname “Tilly Mint,” knows how to create a warm, inviting atmosphere — quirky, timeless and fun.

As soon as you walk into her tea room, you are struck by the bright red imported British phone booth facing the door. Familiar from countless great films from across the pond, the booth serves multiple functions.

It’s where Stubbs and her staff collect Toys for Tots each Christmas season. It’s where guests can’t help standing for a rare photo opp. It’s where people are invited to make and take their cellphone calls. And it’s a perpetual conversation piece that can’t help make you smile.

But there are other traces of America’s original Mother Country all about the place — from the brightness of the double windows that replicate the feel of a British tea room to the Union Jack aflutter out front, a bookcase laden with charming china teapots featuring unmistakable British connections (think “Alice in Wonderland,” Covent Garden, MGs, Big Ben and the like), teacup clamps holding the curtains in place, a floor chest painted with the Union Jack, salt and pepper shakers shaped like double-decker buses — and menus enclosed in black-and-white polka-dotted photo albums describing Stubbs’ nearly three-dozen varieties of teas by categories.

The menu — recalling the understandable strictures of theaters, cinemas and music halls — also includes the injunction “Please place your cellphones on vibrate.”

Oh — in case you didn’t know, those categories feature some of the finest teas available across the globe, including Black (like Queen Catherine, English Breakfast and Darjeeling, the so-called “queen of teas”) and Black Decaffeinated; flavored black (think Apricot, Black Currant, Apple Crunch, Chocolate Kahlua, French Caramel Crème Brulée and Florence, a decadent blend of chocolate and hazelnut); Green (like Hyde Park Green, flavored with fresh pear, and sweet Dragon’s Well, China’s most famous); Oolong (including the orchid-scented Iron Goddess of Mercy); White (such as Mutan, a rare white with an abundance of silvery white buds and green leaves and a delicate flavor that pairs well with sweets); and Herbals/Tissanes (like the sweet, slightly tart Yummy Berry, flavored with wild berries).

Not to mention daily specials such as Lemon Chiffon, Pear & Pomegranate and Hazelnut & Vanilla.

Although I still prefer coffee to tea, I must admit that each of these fine teas has a rich and distinct character, aroma and taste that rarely fails to delight and refresh — and, yes, relax — unlike most coffees, whose charms lie in quite another direction.

So Tilly Mint’s is a tribute to Trish Stubbs’ Liverpudlian parents. Born in the city that spawned the Beatles, her parents provided young “Tilly,” who is a first-generation American, with countless memorable moments.

Stubbs still remembers fondly the years she lived in England, where she attended junior high school, and, when her family came to America, how her mom would tell her, in her fading British accent, “A cup of tea, a talk and a good cry can solve a lot of problems.”

And she is proud of her father, who served in the Queen’s Own Highland Cameron Liverpool Scottish Division during World War II. Photos of her deceased parents can be found throughout the tea room — just one more nod toward the family-friendly vision of Stubbs, who said, “Tea was so much a part of my life, so it was natural.

“I opened my tea room in 2007 when I was 47. My parents had passed away. My daughters had moved. So I needed something in my life that I truly loved. I love entertaining people, did some research, found that tea rooms were ‘hot,’ studied culinary arts at Delaware Valley College, so here I am.”

Prior to Stubbs’ opening Tilly Mint’s (which underwent major renovations with her own design elements), the site had been a florist’s, a car parts shop, a state store and a Vietnamese social club.

The tea room is open for private parties, bridal and baby showers, book club gatherings, birthdays and more Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (sold out through July 2013 already!) and is open to the public every other day of the week.

And what can guests order when they come to Tilly Mint’s? An array of hearty, light and children’s fare, plus homemade sweets and, of course, teapotsful of great tea. The chef is Darren McGrady.

A popular item on the menu is the Wavertree ($21), a full tea that includes a homemade seasonal soup or savory, a salad, assorted tea sandwiches, scones with cream, curd and jam, fresh fruit of the season, assorted dainty desserts and a pot of tea.

The Merseyside ($19), a light tea, includes assorted tea sandwiches, scones with cream, curd and jam, fresh fruit, assorted dainty desserts and a pot of tea.

The Jenny Wren ($10, for “wee guests” 10 and under) features imaginatively shaped tea sandwiches, a scone, fresh fruit, tiny desserts and a pot of tea or pink lemonade.

Before you leave, utterly relaxed and tummy-comfy, be sure to visit Tilly Mint’s Gift Shop, where a delightful array of teapots, jams, cookbooks, gift certificates and more will remind you of a serene experience that helped put the world behind — even if for only two joyful hours.